


Golden

by BlindPriestess



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 14:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19477381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlindPriestess/pseuds/BlindPriestess
Summary: Jason Grace is a famous knight and one day he is asked to rescue Leo Valdez from a dragon that has been terrorizing a village. He agrees to save the boy and slay the dragon, but things go much differently once he find the inventor.





	Golden

Jason Grace was known as one of the most brave, daring, and handsome knights all throughout the land. Every time he passed through a village he would be overrun by the people to hear of his heroic adventures, beg for autographs, and showered in gifts, which he mostly declined. The women would positively swoon over his classically good looks, strong jaw, blond hair, and soft blue eyes that drew everything together. His armor was irregularly made of gold, and his weapon matched, and everyone would agree he looked like an a radiant angel from the heavens. His steed Tempest was a high breed, and had the speed and strength to compare to five horses. The tales of Jason’s adventures were known by all: the giants he defeated in the north, the kingdoms he had toppled. He was a golden boy, who could do no wrong, and his powerful and eminent father elevated his status. But all could agree that his deeds and possessions made him no less humble than a saint, and his polite manner made him instantly more popular than any other knight in the land. He could do no wrong, and would give the skin off his back to help a person in need.  
Which is why when a young woman ran up to him as he passed through a southern town, he stopped to assist her. Jason dismounted Tempest, who snorted at the woman as he was never fond of strangers. She finally reached him, and gasped out, “You have to save my brother!”  
“What’s the matter, miss?” Jason asked, giving her time to catch her breath as she stood winded. Her hair was tied up in a red cloth, and she looked like the general population in this town; tanned, with dark hair and skin. Her form was more muscular than most women, but this place was renowned for its innovations and forges, and often the work of men and women were needed. The woman recovered with a few more breaths, and stood straight to look him in the eyes. “I’m Nyssa. You don’t have to call me miss. And my brother is Leo. He’s an inventor in our town, and one of the best. But we have been attacked recently by a gigantic dragon. Every few nights it comes back again, destroying our homes and workshops, and even burning and killing our people. We have been trying to capture it, but it has evaded everything and is too dangerous for a direct attack. Leo thought he had made the perfect trap to catch the beast, and disappeared into the woods three days ago. No one has seen him or the monster since, and everyone is too afraid to go looking for them. I’ve heard many tales of your successes, and how you help people everywhere you go.” She took his hand, and looked up at him pleadingly. “Will you find him?”  
Jason thought for a moment. He had confronted many beasts before, but a dragon would be a first. He had once faced off with a basilisk, and had returned with it head to show to the king that the threat was dead. A dragon was legendary, but there were so few now that most have never even seen one, much less defeated it in battle. And he couldn’t forget about this woman’s brother, who needed rescuing. As always, his heart lurched in sympathy, and he spoke before considering everything. “I’ll do it.”  
Nyssa heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you, brave Knight. This town won’t forget your generosity. Leo is our best inventor, and we are all affected by his loss. The north woods are where he was last headed, but the dragon is known to encircle the entire perimeter of the forest. The dragon can’t fly, and is massive, so it’s path can be easily tracked. And watch for the traps we have set out. Most can only be triggered by a large weight, but others are more general, like pots of fire and arrows.” Nyssa turned around, motioning for Jason to follow, but his confidence was waning with the description of everything she was telling him. She stepped lightly through the crowds, heading towards a store at the center of the town. He tried to keep Tempest from bumping into others the best he could, but the town was incredibly crowded, and the people stubborn and unyielding. “The storekeeper can give you everything you need for your quest for free. I’ll make sure and handle it with him. Trust me, if you find Leo, his inventions are worth triple anything you could take from the store.” Jason nodded and followed her inside.  
Jason decided to set off as soon as he finished in the store. He felt bad about Nyssa paying for everything, as her clothes were worn and her coin purse nearly empty, so he only took a few supplies to last a couple days. Rarely did a simple quest like this take longer than a few days, and it seemed pretty general to him. Avoid traps, find monster, rescue villager. He had done versions of this multiple times, but what got his heart racing was the chance to defeat a dragon. It was a title few could boast, and if he was able to slay it he would be known for centuries.   
The woods were quiet, which struck Jason as odd. Usually when all the animals were silent it meant that a big predator was around. He took that as a good sign he was on the right track, and in no time he encountered the first trap. It was like a giant bear trap, big enough to make Tempest look small, and he began to wonder how massive this dragon really was. Jason had fought many monsters, even giants, and was no stranger to big scary things, but dragons were ancient and powerful, with fire breath and poison. At the very least, the dragon couldn’t fly, so tracking it on the ground was fairly easy because of the heavy brush and torn earth. Claws had ripped into the ground with every step, and Jason almost imagined how well they could puncture through his armor. It was a special metal, enchanted and rare, a gift from his father that had lasted many battles and saved his hide more than a dozen times. But it wasn’t invincible.   
Finally, the tracks became fresher as the sun trickled sideways in the sky. He didn’t want to be out in the foreign woods late, but he knew it had been a possibility. In the dark, the threat of a giant dragon seemed more terrifying, but he tried to not be scared so he didn’t startle his steed. They continued, picking their way down to a ravine and back up a miniature mountain, when Jason smelled smoke. Instantly, he thought of the dragon breathing fire and the thought scared him, but he could make out smoke rising in the distance. He decided it was worth checking out, and the trail was clear enough he could easily find it again. Making Tempest go forward, they slowed to a trot so as to not alarm anything. When Jason could see the glow of the fire, he dismounted, and crept towards the light. The brush was able to hide him, so he ducked down and peered over the branches to see who was tending to the fire.   
A young man, with curly brown hair and dark skin sat by the fire, and he was fidgeting with a few tools he had on the ground. A hammer and a wrench sat by, but the gears he had in his hands caught most of his attention. His wiry frame was lit up by the fire and the dying light of sunset, and Jason could see he was wearing similar clothes to the villagers. Based on Nyssa‘ description, he had found Leo. Jason stood up and approached the fire, startling him as Leo scrambled up to his feet, wielding the hammer at him. His face was impish and cute, but his expression was defiant, but Jason could detect the fear in his eyes.   
“Who are you?” Leo demanded, and Jason put his hands to show he held no weapons, but his sword strapped to his side was definitely still noticeable.   
“My name is Jason Grace. I’m a knight, and your sister Nyssa sent me here to find you. You are Leo Valdez?” He tried to make his voice sound as soothing and calm as possible, and Leo’s arms fell just a bit.  
“Why would you come out here? Don’t you know about the dragon?” Leo asked, ignoring Jason’s question. Leo looked almost offended, like he couldn’t believe his sister didn’t trust him to capture a gigantic mythical creature by himself.  
“Yes, she told me all about it, but it’s no worry. I have faced worse.” Jason said. He tried stepping forward to take Leo’s arm. “If you’ll follow me, I have a horse we can ride back to town.”   
Leo stumbles a bit as he pulled, and began protesting. “This dragon is not like those other monsters you’ve fought, it’s special. No one understands.” Jason just nodded along, continuing to drag the inventor after him. He probably didn’t know what he was dealing with, and had gotten to his head about the dangers of a beast like that. It was best to take him back to town and return later to slay it, so that the commoner could be safe and not in the crossfire. “Trust me, everything will be-“ Jason started, but faltered as he made out a faint sound of flapping wings. It was too big to be a bird, and descending fast. Quickly, he turned and pulled Leo to the ground as he yelped, and used his other hand to unsheathe his sword.   
Too late. A force like a mountain swatted him, with claws shrieking across his armor and he slammed into a tree trunk, almost letting go of his grip of his sword. His breath had been crushed out of him, and if not for his armor he would have been concave. His vision swirled, but it was easy to make out such a massive shape standing 50 feet ahead. The dragon was golden and snarling, smoke pouring up from his exposed teeth and tail snapping angrily. But the biggest thing he noticed were the wings. Huge, bat like wings, made of a strange material that wasn’t organic at all, and strapped onto the dragon’s back. Hadn’t Nyssa said it was wingless? Disntantly, he could hear Leo shouting, and as Jason stood he could see the dragon was standing over the boy, like it was ready to kill him first. Jason knew he had to get the civilian out of the way, and charged, sword lined up perfectly to fit between the dragon’s eyes. Strangely, it didn’t try evading, but kept standing there baring it’s teeth. Jason made it to 20 feet before he recognized Leo’s words as pleas to stop, and suddenly Leo stood in front of the dragon’s snout, arms raised to defend it. Jason nearly killed him in his protest, just managing to turn the point away in time to stand in front of Leo, who was panting and glaring at Jason.  
“What are you doing?” Jason demanded, and Leo shouted, “You can’t kill him! He’s not what you think he is!”   
“It’s a dragon!” Jason yelled, gesturing with his sword tip, making the dragon hiss. “It’s dangerous and has to be killed.”   
“No!” Leo protested. “He’s just scared. Festus is alright now. I fixed him.”   
Jason’s sword lowered and his eyes narrowed. “What do you mean fixed him?”  
“Festus was almost killed by people. They sawed off his wings so he couldn’t fly away, but he was still able to escape. He’s been afraid of people since, and mad because he couldn’t fly so... I built him wings.” He said this part sheepishly, like he was embarrassed to have given a giant man killer even more weapons in its reservoir. “I know it sounds crazy, but he’s beginning to trust me. He’s not inherently bad, and he can be trained.” Leo reached out, trying to take the sword from Jason’s hand. “Just trust me.”   
Jason knew he couldn’t trust the word of a man he met five minutes ago versus the centuries old legends of the vicious and bloodthirsty nature of dragons. He seized Leo’s wrist and tossed him behind his back, and Leo cried out as he hit the ground. The dragon seethed, and raised on its back legs to strike, but seemed hesistant, as if afraid to hurt Leo in the process. Jason had no such premonitions, and raised his sword again to point at the most defenseless area, the underbelly. Just as he raised his arms over his head to strike, thin but strong arms wrapped around his to stop him from lowering the blade. Leo was screaming again, and Jason could only grit his teeth at being blocked again. Jason’s balance was thrown off by Leo, and he found himself falling backwards, just managing to twist his body around so that he was facing Leo when they both landed on the ground.   
Leo’s breath had been knocked out of him by the weight of Jason plus his armor, and he was mostly pinned to ground. His face was panicked, and when Jason raised himself to his knees, Leo threw his arms around his neck. Jason could feel himself scowling at being this encumbered by a villager in the middle of a great quest, and fumbled for his sword that had been thrown on his way down. Leo’s arms tugged, forcing Jason to look down at him.   
“Please don’t kill Festus.” Leo begged, and his eyes began to fill with tears. He was panting from trying so hard to rescue his dragon from Jason. “He’s a great dragon, you have to trust me.”   
Jason frowned. “I was sent to rescue you from the dragon. How would it look if I let the dragon go free after it has killed so many?”   
“I didn’t need rescuing! And I know I can fix him. I can’t explain it, it’s just like he’s a machine and I know just the right stuff to make him functional again. And he’s not vicious anymore. He even lets me ride him! Would a vicious beast do that?”  
“What?” Jason gaped. “You’ve ridden a dragon?”   
Leo grinned beneath him. “Yes. It’s magical, I think I’m the only person to see the world that high. It’s like being able to fly.” Leo hesitated, then asked, “Would you like to ride with me?”   
Jason had always dreamed of flying. Tempest was fast, and sometimes he could imagine it was him that was soaring in the wind, but it wasn’t enough. They could never do more that jump in the air. But on a dragon...  
“Would he even let me?” Jason whispered. “I’ve tried killing him twice.”  
Leo thought for a moment. “I’m sure I could convince him. But you’d better get off of me now before he slaps you into tomorrow again.”   
Jason stood up quickly, back still aching from the first hit, and extended his hands to help Leo off the ground. Leo accepted his help, and began to cautiously come near Festus, still holding onto Jason’s hands.   
“Hey buddy, I know this guy is a jerk and tried killing us both, but do you think you could be nice and take him for a ride with me?” Leo was sure to speak softly, and stroked Festus’s scales to calm down the still steaming dragon. Jason could hear a grumble, which sounds like an earthquake, and Leo turned to him, grinning. His smile was like a mad scientist, but his warm brown eyes were twinkling. “That means yes!”  
Leo led his to the dragon’s back, where a saddle was attached on with the wings. Jason has missed it before. Jason boosted Leo up onto the dragon’s back, as he was shorter than Jason and especially the dragon, and grabbed onto the saddle and pulled himself up. He had to sit directly behind Leo, and tried to keep a polite distance, but Leo huffed at him.   
“You’re going to have to hold on if you don’t want to plummet to your death.” He said, and Jason swallowed. “Um, ok. What do I hold onto?” There was nothing like a horse’s pommel, and the back of the dragon was smooth, with nothing to grab on.   
“Me, of course.” Leo replied. Jason could feel himself flushing as his hands reached out to wrap around Leo’s waist. It wasn’t like they had grabbed each other before now, but that was in combat. This was more trusting, and intimate. Jason could feel the dragon’s rib cage expanding from where he sat, and heard the wings shift around. Before he could even ask if they were ready, Festus shot up like an arrow, and Jason hugged Leo’s waist tighter, completely enveloping around the inventor for fear of falling off. Leo himself hung on the dragon’s neck, and he was whooping into the air as the clouds shot by. The evening was chilly in the atmosphere, and when Jason’s heart stopped beating like a rabbit, he looked over the dragon’s heaving sides.   
Mountains and forests covered the earth as far as he could see. Small plumes of campfires rose but never reached them as high as they were. Lakes shone like pools of black, and the world was quiet except for the wind blowing past them. Leo twisted around to shout in Jason’s ear. “What’d do you think?”   
Jason held his breath for a moment, then shouted back, “This is amazing!” Leo laughed and turned back to the front, helping navigate them through the clouds. Jason was thankful for the heat of Leo’s body as the chill began to set in to his bones. Even if he froze to death, he’d die happy. Flying was as exhilarating as winning a battle, but just as dangerous. His stomach was still dropping, but his skin tingles. His grin was pushed back by the wind. He tucked his head against Leo’s shoulder, so that he could see from the front too, and heard Leo gasp.   
Maybe the butterflies in his belly weren’t all from flying thousands of feet off the ground. The dragon was amazing, he could admit that now he was glad he didn’t slay it, but the boy who had found the dragon was pretty amazing too. Leo was smart and brave, and was beautiful too. Jason liked his dark eyes and the curls of his hair that kept tickling his neck. He held on a little tighter and shifted forward, getting as close as possible on the back of a dragon soaring through the sky. Together they watched the moon rise and the star come out, and the orange smears of fire down on the ground below them. Finally, Festus set them both on the ground, even though Jason could have stayed in the sky forever.  
Jason slid off the dragon first, and raised his arms to help Leo down. Leo hit the ground but stumbled, tripping into Jason’s chest. “Sorry,” Leo began, but when he straightened his mouth fell open, with no words able to come out. Jason could feel himself moving closer, locking eyes and drowning in the darkness until he could feel their lips meet. It only lasted a sweet second, and when Jason opened his eyes Leo was turning red, which really brought out the freckles inlaid in his bronze skin. He smiled. “You know, I could use a dragon like that on some of my quests. Do you want to go with me?” Leo’s smile was all the answer he needed.


End file.
